Car-door-operating mechanism



A. CAMPBELL.

CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED 0(2T. 24, 1919.

Patented June 1,

cans srarss ABiG-YLE CAMPBELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 ENTERPRISE RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

GAR-DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARGYLE CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Door-Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in car door operating mechanism.

Several arrangements have heretofore been employed for operating doors of cars, particularly drop bottom doors wherein the torsional strain has been eliminated from the shaft when the doors are in closed position. Among these arrangements there are two general types one of which involves a shaft that rolls beneath the door when the latter is in closed position and the other involves a bar or sliding latch attached to the door which is pulled out over the shaft when the door is in closed position.

In that type of mechanism employing the sliding latch on the door, it is necessary to provide for the sliding movement and at the same time hold the latch from being pulled out, which requires parts that are 'more or less expensive. With the other type wherein the shaft rolls into position beneath the doors, it has heretofore been found necessary to employ means, additional to the shaft, flexible connections between the shaft and the doors, to effect the outward movement of the shaft from beneath the doors when the latter are opened. Such means have generally involved knurled or toothed wheels on the shaft and cooperating racks on the door.

The object of my invention is to provide a door operating mechanism more particularly adapted for drop bottom doors of cars wherein is employed a bodily movable operating shaft and flexible connections extending between the shaft and the doors, the flexible connections and the shaft having cooperating means for forcing the operating shaft from beneath the doors during the opening operation and wherein, also, all slidable attachments to the doors and the use of means additional to the flexible con- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June I, 1920.

Application filed October 24, 1919. ,Serial No. 333,042.

nection for effecting the outward movement of the shaft from beneath the door, are eliminated.

The invention furthermore consists in the improvements in the parts and devices and in the novel combinations of the parts and devices herein shown, described and made the subject matter of the claims.

In the drawing forming a part of this speclfication, Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of a portion of a drop bottom door freight car showing my improvements in connection therewith. The full lines indicate the position of all of the parts when the door is in closed position and the dotted lines indicate the positionof the parts assumed when the doors are being opened and the doors are just about to clear the shaft in their downward movement. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view corresponding to that shown in Fig. 1 near the free edge of the door and illustrating a somewhat different embodiment of the invention from that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 but illustrating another embodiment of the invention. And Fig. 4c is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 3 but illustrating the position of the shaft and immediately associated parts when the doors are in fully opened position.

Beferring first to the construction illustrated in Fig; 1, I have shown a drop bottom door car of a form well known to those skilled in the art, cars of said type having a plurality of doors on each side of the center sill, the number of which may be varied as desired. In my drawings I have only thought it necessary to indicate one of such doors as it is evident that the embodiment of the invention is the same whether employed with one or more doors. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, there will ordinarily be two sets of linkages between each door and the operating shaft and as many pairs of sets of linkages as there are doors. The car, as shown, is provided with a center sill indicated at 10, side stakes in dicated at '14 and cross members of the underframe indicated at 15. The cross members 15 may be needle beams or bolsters or both, as will be understood. The floor of the car, or such portion of it as desired,is formed by floor doors indicated at 16 the latter being pivotally attached along their lnner edges as'indicated at 17 to suitable hinge sters.

of the cross members of the underframe on each side of the center sill, for that portion of the car which is between the body boli The door 16 may be reinforced by any suitable means such as the transversely extending braces 22 and the longitudinally extending Z-bar braces 23. In carrying out my invention, the cross members of the underframe are apertured at their outer ends so as to accommodate the longitudinally extending operating shaft 24. The latter extends through the apertures of the cross members and through corresponding elongated curved openings 25 provided in bearing castings 26 secured to the cross members 15. eted or otherwise suitably secured to the cross'members andthe elongated .openmgs 25 therein are surrounded by flanges 27 so asto give a better bearing for the circular V ournals 28 that are applied on the shaft 25,

i the latter being preferably of square cross section as illustrated. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 the elongated bearing slots 25 are arcuate inshape with the center of the are located above the doors. On each door 16, preferably near each end thereof, 1 apply a bracket indicated at 29 which is riveted to the door and which has an outwardly and downwardly extending arm indicated at 30.. Pivotally attached to each arms 30 is an'L-shaped link 31, the pivotal connection being shown at 32 and as will be noted, said pivotal'connection is located directly overthe axisof the operating shaft when the parts are in closed position. To the outer end of the link 31 is pivotally connected a link 33 and the latter in turn is pivotally connected as indicated at 34 to another link Pivotally attached to the opposite end of said link 35'are links 36' which in turn are pivotally' connected as indicated at 37 to the arm 38 formed inte gral with a hub casting 39 rigid with the shaft 24. Said hub casting 39 is formed on its upper face, when the parts are in the position shown by full lines in Fig. 1, with a flat surface 40 on which the short arm 41 of the link 31 bears as shown in the drawing. In addition, said hub casting 39 is provided with an upstanding shoulder indi- Said bearing castings 26 are riv load of the doors free from any torsional cated at 42 which is arranged to cooperate with the short arm 41 in the manner hereinafter described.

Assuming the parts as shown in Fig. 1 by the full lines, the operation is as follows. The shaft 24 will be rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1 by any suitable means preferably at the end of the shaft, in a well-known manner/ As this rotation occurs, it is evident that the shoulder 7 42 will engage againstthe depending arm 41 of the link 31 and the latter being held against any movement with respect to the door other than pivotal, will necessarily cause the operating shaft to travel out- 30 wardly and up the slot 25. This bodily movement of the shaft will continue until the parts reach the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, that is, when the shaft 24 is substantially at the upper end of the bearing slot 25 and the extended arms 30 of the brackets 29 are free to clear the shaft and hub. Thereafter the shaft will rotate freely under the influence of the load on the door until the door or doors are in fully, opened position at which time the shaft will have fallen down to the lower end of the slots 25. In the closing of the doors, during the winding of the links comprising the V flexible connections around the shaft the o5 latter will be forced to shift outside the path of movement of the free edge of the door and will ultimately be drawn in be-. neath the links 31 and directly support the strain and with the links entirely relieved of tension.

' Referring next to the construction illustrated in F ig; 2, the arrangement is substantially identical with the exception that the bearing'slots in the castings 126 are not arcuate but instead are substantially horizontal and provided with downwardly offset portions indicated at 125. With this arrangement, the operating shaft 124 will roll no out to the offset ends of the bearing slots during the opening movement and will remain there until such time, during the closing of the doors, as the shaft is pulled under the edges of the doors during the final closing movements. The arrangement of linkages and connections to the shaft and doors are the same as previously described.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 3

and 4, the construction of the doors, operating shaft, hubs and links are the same as in the other views. In this modification, however, the openings in the bearing casting 226 are of more or less cam shape as indicated at 225. The special shape employed for the outline of the opening 225 is toaccommodate the movements of the elongated bear-' ing hubs 228 carried by the operating shaft 224. On account of the-elongated form of the shaft bearing hubs 228, it is evident that the shaft 224c will be shiftedaround Within the bearing openings 225 and the bearing hubs 228 are so designed and positioned with respect to the shaft 224,when the doors are approaching their closed position, that the extended ends 328 of said bearing hubs will be at the lower inner corners 325 of the openings 225 and the shaft 224 will consequently be clear of the free edges of the door. It is evident that other forms of bearing hubs might be employed other than that shown at 228 and the cam shaped bearing opening 225 correspondingly changed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

From the preceding description considered in connection with the drawings, it will be noted that the movements of my operating shaft back and forth with respect to the free edges of the pivoted doors is effected entirely by the shaft and the flexible connections between the shaft and the doors. In other words, I eliminate the usual knurled or geared wheels carried by the movable shafts and the racks on the doors of one form of door mechanism heretofore used and eliminate the sliding latch connection heretofore used in another form of door mechanism. I am able to employ a flexible link connection of well-known form and have the attachment of the ends of said flex ible connection strong and of the usual pivotal character, thereby decreasing expense and providing a mechanism which is simple,

easily operable and thoroughly efficient in re-' lieving the shaft of torsional strains and eliminating tension from the flexible connections when the doors are in closed position.

I claim:

1. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a member provided with a door opening and a door for closing the opening, of an operating shaft carried by said member and movable relatively to one edge of said door; and a flexible connection consisting of a plurality of movably united elements interposed between said shaft and said edge of the door, said shaft and one of the elements of the flexible connection having cooperating means to force the shaft away from said edge of the door when the shaft is rotated in an unwinding direction when the door is in closed position, the load from the door in the closed position of the latter being transferred to the shaft without torsional effect by said element of the flexible connection.

2. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a member having a door opening therein and provided with a door for closing said opening, of an operating shaft for said door carried by said member and movably mounted with respect to one edge of said door; a flexible connection interposed between said shaft and said edge of the door and including an end link pivotally attached to a rigid part of the door, said pivotal point of attachment of said link being disposed vertically over the shaft when the door is in closed position to thereby relieve the shaft of torsional effect when the door is closed; and co5perating means on said link and shaft arranged to force the shaft away from the said edge of the door when the shaft is rotated in an unwinding direction. I

3. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a member having a door opening therein and provided with a door for closing said opening, of an operating shaft for said door carried by said member and movably mounted with respect to one edge of said door; a flexible connec tion comprised of a plurality of links inter-- posed between said shaft and said edge of the door and including an end link pivotally attached to a rigid part of the door, said pivotal point of attachment of said link be- 7 ing disposed vertically over the shaft when the door is in closed positionto thereby relieve the shaft of torsional effect when the door is closed; and cooperating means on said link and shaft arranged to force the shaft away from the said edge of the door when the shaft is rotated in an unwinding direction, said means comprising a shoulder on the shaft and a co6perating shoulder on said link.

4. In a door operating mechanism for cars, the combination with a car body having a pivoted floor door and an underframe having cross members; of a shaft extending lengthwise of the car and mounted in the cross members of the underframe near their outer ends and adjacent the free edge of the door, the bearing for said shaft adapting. the latter for movement inwardly and out- Wardly with respect to the free edge of the door; and a flexible connection composed of a plurality of movably united elements interposed between said shaft and the door, the end element of said flexible connection attached to the door being pivotally attached to the latter at a point disposed directly over the shaft when the door is in closed position. a

5. In a car having an underframe provided with cross members and a floor door pivotally attached along its inner edge, the combination with elongated bearings at the outer ends of said cross members; of a longitudinally extending shaft passing through said elongated bearings; and flexible connections composed of a plurality of pivotally connected elements interposed between said shaft and the free edge of the door, said flexible connections and the shaft having cooperating means arranged to effect outward movement of the shaft away from the free edge of the door when the shaft is rotated in an unwinding direction with the doors in closed position.

6. In a car door operating mechanism, the combination with a car body having a pivoted floor door and an underframe having cross members; of a longitudinally extending operating shaft mounted for bodily movement at the outer endsof said cross members; hubs carried by said shaft; flexible connections extending from said hubs to the free edges of the door, each of said flexible connections comprising a plurality of links, the end links being pivotally attached to the hubs and to the door, respectively, and cooperating shoulders on said hubs and those end links which are pivotally attached to the door.

7. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a car body having a floor door pivotally mounted along its inner edge; of a longitudinally extending shaft; elongated bearings for said shaft adapting the latter for bodily movement inwardly and outwardly with respect to the free edge of the door; a shouldered hub carried by said shaft; and a flexible connection between said hub and the door comprising a plurality of links, one end link being pivotally attached to the hub and the other pivotally attached to'the door, the latter and the hub having cooperating opposed shoulders, the point of pivotal connection between the door and the corresponding end link being disposed vertically over the shaft when the door is in closed position.

'8. In a door operating mechanism for cars, the combination with a car body having pivoted floor doors and an underframe having cross members; of a shaft extending lengthwise of the car mounted in the cross members of the underframe near their outer ends adjacent the free edges of the doors, slotted bearings for said shaft adapting the shaft for lateral movement; flexible connections between the shaft and doors adapted to force the shaft from a position under the doors, when the doors are closed, or draw the shaft from a position outside of the path of travel of the doors, when the doors are open, to a position beneath the car doors when the doors are closed, said movements being regulated by the flexible connections when rotative power'is applied to the operating shaft, each of said flexible connections consisting of a plurality of pivotally connected elements.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 3rd day of Oct, 1919;

ARJGYLE CAMPBELL Witnesses:

WALTER GUNNIsoN, IRENE DRAKE. 1 s 

